Someone to Save
by Musicalrain
Summary: Post-ME3. Kaidan continues femshep's legacy on the SSV Anderson. Fic is a work in progress. Rating subject to change. I have no rights to Mass Effect, I just have fun with it. Please Review!
1. Chapter 1: Marching On

Someone to Save

_Author's note: Post-ME3. Femshep/Kaidan romance, femshep died in ME3. Kaidan continues her work. Many OCs. Had originally wrote this story in a completely different direction, got about 4,500 words in, and decided to rewrite it. Hopefully this version is better. :)_

_-Additional note: Chapter one is a test run. If there isn't much interest in this story, then I may or may not continue it. I already have a tentative outline planned, with a possible 12 – 15 expected chapters. I find this story a bit difficult to write, so if it sucks or doesn't draw much interest, then I'll just save myself the trouble and drop it. Please review or PM and let me know your opinions! I accept anonymous reviews too! Thanks!_

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**Chapter 1: Marching On**

Kaidan opened the door to his parent's home to a smiling cerulean asari.

"Kaidan!" they hugged, "It is so good to see you."

"It's good to see you too, Liara. Please come in."

Liara looked around the old Earth styled home and smiled warmly, "The place is coming together nicely. Has it taken a lot of work to repair?" She asked curiously.

Kaidan shrugged, "No more work than I expected it to be. I work on it every time I'm on Earth. Which, I regret to say, should be a lot more. My mom should have a finished house. Especially since she's alone now."

Liara put a hand on his shoulder, "She's not alone Kaidan."

They walked over the living room, and upon taking their seats, Liara sat a data-pad in between them. "I won't bore you with any dramatics, but let's just get to why I'm here." She turned on the pad, and it emitted a three-dimensional image of a ship, "This is the _SSV __Anderson __SR-1_. Modeled after the _Normandy __SR-2_ and named after Anderson himself. My agents in the Alliance have been successful; it is fully functional, state of the art, and part of the Alliance fleet."

She tapped on the pad. The ship's image disappeared, and was replaced by a list of names, "I have gone to the liberty of gathering a crew. You may recognize some of the names." She smirked and pointed at the list, "Specialist Samantha Traynor, Shuttle Pilot Steve Cortez, Dr. Karin Chakwas."

She pushed the list aside, and another came up, "I also went to the trouble of ensuring you had the best people at your disposal. Lieutenant Courtney Louis is the Executive Officer. She's part of the Alliance, but she's also young. She has not completed any higher education, but is a mathematical savant and accomplished statistician." Liara tapped her name on the list, and a black-haired blue-eyed young woman appeared in the hologram, "She should excel in this position."

She returned to the list of names, "Halah'Daae vas Fizza is assigned as the pilot. Halah was part of the quarian's heavy fleet, where she piloted the Fizza. The Fizza was a small ship that was part of the quarian's advanced fighter squadron."

Kaidan put a hand up, "What do you mean _was_?"

Liara nodded, and explained, "The Fizza sustained heavy damage while attempting to reclaim Palavan's moon, Manae. Halah and a hand-full of others escaped in pods, just before the Fizza was sacrificed to destroy a Reaper. It took an impressive amount of foresight and quick thinking to accomplish this without sacrificing the lives of her remaining crew. Regardless of the Fizza's destruction, I assure you that Halah'Daae is an exemplary pilot." While she spoke, she had enlarged an image of the quarian woman.

Liara continued, by returning to the list of names, "Oren Ursul will be your Chief Engineer." She pulled up an image of a drell with pale lime green and dark gold scales, "He has experience with the hanar's stealth fighters. He is not under the compact, however. He had volunteered for training and service under the hanar."

She returned to the list, and pulled up another image. This one was of a black-plated turian with dark green eyes, and orange colony markings on the sides of his face and fringe. "Idan Herus will be Ursul's assistant engineer." Liara smirked again, "I have _borrowed_ him from Garrus."

She returned to the list and pulled up yet another image, "I have also _borrowed_ Garrus' younger sister, Solana Vakarian."

Kaidan sat forward and looked closely at this last image, "Wow. She looks so much like her brother." He looked up at Liara, "What is her duty, calibrations?" He joked.

Liara tilted her head, "Well calibrations are part of it. I've assigned her as the Gunnery Chief with complete access to the vessel's main guns."

Liara returned to the image of the ship, "Those that I have just explained in detail will be part of your permanent ground squad. Of course, with the exception of Miss Daae. Although that is not to say that the pilot does not have combat experience. If need be, she can provide ground assistance. She does not quite have formal training, but her pilgrimage was... trying."

Kaidan leaned back, "You seem to be particularity impressed with this pilot."

Liara nodded, "I am. If you wish, I can forward a more complete dossier to you." She typed a few things on her omni-tool without waiting for an answer.

She looked up again and continued, "Courtney Louis is a biotic." Liara smirked, "Her combat style is very similar to mine, actually. Oren Ursul is best suited for CQC, and has exemplary tech skills. Idan Herus' skills somewhat overlap with Ursul, but he is more of a 'heavy hitter'. Solana Vakarian has training as an infiltrator with sniping skills that could very well best her brother's."

She turned off the data-pad. "The _SSV __Anderson_ is awaiting you, Major Alenko."

Kaidan stood and shook hands with Liara, "Thank you, Liara. You have no idea how much this means to me."

…...

_[Meanwhile, on the 'Anderson'...]_

Solana Vakarian was trying to take a brief nap, when she awoke to the sound of heavy boots scrapping against the metal flooring. She rolled onto her side, "Spirits. Please learn to walk quieter!"

She slowly opened her eyes, and saw a black-plated turian hunched over and putting his belongings into a footlocker, "You don't belong here." She accused.

He turned his head, and spoke in a surprisingly deep voice, "I'm not staying in the commons." He looked towards the lower bunk on the opposite wall of the bunk set that Solana currently occupied, "Besides these beds are bigger."

Solana sat up in the top bunk, "This is the officers' suite. What's your position?"

He snorted, "Assistant engineer." He looked down and read the footlocker he was stealing, "And 'Dr. Chakwas' can have my bunk. I've already paid her off."

Suddenly, Solana noticed a drell standing in the still open doorway, "Ah. You must be Idan Herus. My assistant." The drell walked over to Herus and bowed slightly, "Pleasure to meet you, Sere. I'm Oren Ursul. Chief Engineer."

The other three jumped a little when the were interrupted by the quarian who occupied the other top bunk, "C'mon you little bosh'tet! Why won't you attach!"

Oren looked up, "Excuse me, but what is it you're trying to attach?"

The yellow masked quarian looked over the edge of the bunk, and down towards Oren, "Oh! Sorry. I'm trying to attach a small net and some fabrics on the wall here. I have seals, but they won't adhere to the hull. I don't know why."

Oren nodded and offered, "Perhaps I could have a look?"

The quarian nodded in reply, and pointed at herself, "Pilot Halah'Daae vas Fizza. And thank you."

The drell climbed the ladder into her bunk, and quickly began examining one of the metal suction seals.

Idan proceeded to walk over to the small lounge area in the center of the room, and took a seat. As he put his feet on the coffee table, he bumped a tall vase with artificial flowers. The vase tumbled to the floor.

"Hey! That's mine! Be more careful!" Solana snapped, and climbed down the ladder to retrieve the vase.

As she walked over, she was mumbling something that was mostly covered by her undertones. "What's that?" Idan turned in his seat to face her as she walked over.

When Solana didn't clarify, Halah spoke up, "I believe she just cursed men in the old turian dialect."

Solana looked up at the quarian, "How'd you know that?"

Halah looked over her shoulder and shrugged, "I was stuck on Palavan for a few months. I picked up a few things."

A voice filled the room on the ship-wide comm, "Attention _SSV __Anderson _crew. Major Kaidan Alenko will be aboard in thirty minutes. Please return to your stations."

Halah turned towards Oren, who had just finished attaching this third seal, "Who was that?"

"I believe that was our executive officer, Courtney Louis." Oren replied.

…...

During the taxi ride, Kaidan was looking at the data-pad and undergoing a virtual tour of the _Anderson_. It was very similar to the _Normandy __SR-2_, but the crew deck was quite different. There was a mass crew quarters, referred to as the commons, and a few specialized officers' suites. Instead of two lounges, there was one and a small open gym. The elevator faced the mess. And the mess was much more open. It even had a specialized prep area for dextros, with a small refrigerator. However there were far fewer sleeper pods, and the med-bay had far smaller windows facing the mess.

By the time Kaidan finished the "tour," he and Liara had arrived at the station. Liara walked him to the dock where the _Anderson_ was awaiting them.

Liara held her arm up and gestured towards the ship, "Here we are Kaidan. Your things are already aboard... And I hope you don't mind if I don't continue on with you at this point. The ship is yours."

They embraced, and Kaidan muttered next to Liara's ear, "Thank you so much. I can never repay you for what you've done."

As they separated, Liara smiled and said, "You owe me nothing. You've deserved this." She patted him on the shoulder, "Good luck." and walked away.

Kaidan was greeted outside of the airlock by XO Louis. She was a taller woman, with baby bangs lining her forehead, and her straight black hair bluntly cut at her chin. She wore common Alliance blues that were modified to fit her more slender form. And as Liara said, she was young. Kaidan guessed about twenty-five.

She saluted him and greeted, "Major Kaidan Alenko. Welcome aboard the _Anderson_. I am Executive Officer Courtney Louis. Please allow me to show you aboard."

Kaidan nodded, and followed the girl up to the cockpit. This wasn't a typical Alliance vessel, and Liara had made sure that the crew understood that strict formalities were not necessary.

Once they arrived in the cockpit, the pilot turned around, stood, and saluted too. She was a shorter petite quarian woman. She had a yellow tinted visor with a coppery-brown colored suit, which was decorated with an off-white abstract pattern that reminded Kaidan of plaid.

She spoke with a slightly accented voice, "Keelah se'lai, captain. I am Halah'Daae vas Fizza. Pilot of this vessel. It is nice to finally meet you."

Kaidan nodded, "It is also nice to meet you... May I ask how you know of me?"

The quarian tilted her head slightly, "Most everyone knows of Commander Shepard's team... But, I assume you are asking on a more personal level? We have a mutual friend in Dr. Liara T'Soni, sir."

Kaidan grinned, "Liara has told me about you too."

After they left the cockpit, Kaidan was greeted by Traynor. She saluted, "Major Alenko. Specialist Samantha Traynor."

Kaidan extended a hand towards her, "Traynor. It's good to see you again. How've you been?"

Traynor smiled and shook his hand, "Well sir. I haven't done much since the _Normandy_, and I'm glad to have this opportunity."

Kaidan smiled back, "We're glad to have you, Sam."

Once on the crew deck, Kaidan requested to see the med-bay first. Dr. Chakwas hurriedly greeted him, "Major Alenko! Oh, it is so good to see you. How are you holding up?"

Kaidan bear hugged her, "Doctor! I'm doing well. Thanks... Not that it's any of my business, but I'm sure you have a nice retirement setup by now."

Karin stepped back, "Now, now Kaidan. I'm a doctor, and will be until the day I'm dead. I'm just glad that I got to come here, since the Normandy's been retired."

Kaidan nodded, "I had heard that it's being re-purposed for a type of memorial in London."

"That's right. Poor thing... But I guess it's for the best. The people need something."

Kaidan nodded again, and said goodbye to the doctor before leaving. He and Louis made a pit stop in the mess to greet the chef Mess Sergent Bater, before heading to the main battery.

When the battery's doors opened, Kaidan thought he was seeing things for a second. A turian, who was definitely Garrus' sister, was bent over the console doing calibrations. But she was smaller, though not at all shorter, and she wore black light armor highlighted in blue. As she turned around, he took note that her fringe was far shorter, which reminded him of asari fronds, and that her eyes were light grey. She had the same blue markings on her face, but her face was much smaller than any male's he had seen. Her mandibles were also smaller.

XO Louis introduced them, "Major Kaidan Alenko, this is Gunnery Chief Solana Vakarian."

Kaidan extended a hand to her, "Solana, I used to work with your brother."

She shook his hand briefly before replying, "Yes. He told me about you. And everyone else he's served with. All of you made quite the impression." She tilted her head down a bit, "I'm honored to get the chance to serve with you too."

After the brief introductions, he let her get back to work, err calibrations.

Once on the engineering deck, he was introduced to Oren and Idan.

Courtney Louis waved a hand in front of the two engineers, "This is our Chief Engineer Oren Ursul, and his assistant Idan Herus."

They then proceeded to have a short conversation about mass effect drive cores, and Kaidan struggled to keep up. By the time they left engineering, he had the beginnings of a headache.

His headache disappeared when he came upon Steve Cortez in the cargo-hold. It was good to see yet another friendly face.

Once the introductions were completed, Courtney escorted Kaidan to his cabin on the first floor. When he entered the single-floor suite, Courtney pointed towards a desk, "You have a private terminal with direct access to all of our ship's catalogs and calendars. Also, this room has been furnished upon request of our anonymous donor. If you find anything out of order, or missing, please file a requisition order. We should be ready for launch at 0900 tomorrow morning." She saluted, "Sir." And turned around to leave.

Once Courtney left, Kaidan decided to have a look around the room. There was a desk in the right corner, near the bathroom, with a model of the _Normandy_ mounted on the wall. On the furthest end of the room, was a large bed with two pillows and two nightstands. One nightstand held a lamp, and the other an alarm clock. The one with the lamp had a holo-picture of the late Commander Shepard on it. Kaidan picked up the holo, and walked over to the lounge area on the left side of the room.

He sat down and stroked the image, "Shepard... I'll make sure your sacrifice wasn't for nothing. I will protect what you did, and keep peace in the galaxy. For you, I'd do anything. You know that?"

He sighed and clutched the holo close to his chest. He sat like that for some time. He returned the holo and went to his desk. When he opened his private terminal, he found over two dozen messages that needed attended to.

…...

At the end of his sift, Oren showered and headed to the mess. He got his dinner, and was waved over by Halah'Daae. She motioned for him to sit next to her. As he got closer, he noticed that she was sitting across from the human, Traynor. They were discussing the Major.

As he sat, Halah asked the human, "So you really did work with the Commander _and_ the Major? Keelah. How was that?'

The girl shrugged, "I know they're legendary now. But they're normal people. The Commander and the Major were... _close_. They were the cutest thing." Her eyes got wide, "Wait. Don't tell anyone that bit, okay?"

Halah giggled, "Yes, yes. I won't say a thing." She turned towards Oren, "How was it when you were introduced to the Major?"

Oren took a drink of water then answered, "It went well. We even discussed coil conductor capacities and how they affect the subtle outputs of a mass effect field..."

Halah put a hand up to stop him, "You discussed tech with the Major? Did he understand?"

Oren shrugged, "I think he followed for awhile. Although, once Herus interjected the conversation deviated into the more complex aspects of the conductors and mass effect cores... I think he became lost by then."

Traynor covered her mouth with a hand to stop herself from laughing, "Oh, I don't think he understood a thing. He still uses an outdated omni-tool."

The glowing yellow disks of Halah's eyes widened, "Wow."

The conversation continued to be light, even as the Major made his way down to the mess for dinner. He joined their table, right after Solana.

Halah spoke first to him while motioning with her arm, "Oh Major! Is it true you used to argue with Admiral Tali'Zorah vas Normandy about omni-tool interfaces?"

He looked around the group gathered, "How did you... Traynor? Are you spreading rumors?"

She smiled at him as he scooted next to her, "They're not rumors if they're true, sir."

Solana clicked her mandibles, "I've heard that too, Major. Garrus _has_ told me practically everything."

Traynor turned towards Solana, "Oh, that's right! Your Garrus Vakarian's sister! I don't know how that slipped my mind... If you don't mind me asking, is your brother still with Tali?"

Solana chuckled-hummed, "Yes. And our father still doesn't like it. Their relationship is complicated though... He can't get out to Rannoch as often as he'd like."

Halah paused from eating, "They cause quite a commotion when they're on Rannoch. People stalk them."

Kaidan smirked, "Are we speaking from experience Miss Daae?" He teased.

Her head shot up and her fists briefly clenched in shock, "No! Keelah!"

Oren made a grumbling noise, "You got nutrient paste in my eye..."

She turned quickly to her right and her, now empty, hands flew to cradle his face, "Keelah! I'm so, so sorry Oren! Here. Let me help you." She dragged him over to the mess' sink in the dextro section.

Solana clicked her mandibles, "Major, you've scared away the other side of the table."

Kaidan turned to look at the two that got up, "I didn't mean any harm. I was just joking." He turned to look towards the two women on his right, "Should I go apologize or something?"

Solana made a shooing motion with her hands, "No. They're fine. When they come back, you can if you feel like it. No need to get up."

…...

After dinner Solana, Oren, and Halah went back to their room. Solana was stretched out in a chair reading on her omni-tool, while Oren and Halah were sitting on the edge of his bed discussing VI interfaces.

They were all startled when the door to their room opened, and they saw their XO, Courtney Louis, hug Idan Herus, and linger a bit before she wished him a good night.

Solana couldn't help herself, she had to say something. "Anything going on there, Herus?"

He only shot daggers at her with his piercing green eyes, kicked off his boots, and laid in his bunk.

Solana wasn't going to let him off easy. It was time for payback from the morning, "Awe. Now your no talk? It's okay. You can tell us if you're doing a human. I betcha that Oren and Halah have something going on here too."

Halah turned around to face Solana, "Hey! Keep it focused on the bosh'tet over there!"

Solana nodded, "Right. Will do... So what is it Idan? Turian women don't do it for you? You like asari too? Or is it just humans? Hmm? Anything to say?"

When he closed his eyes and rolled to his side, Solana got up and stormed to the door, "Fine! Don't say anything!"

Halah turned towards Oren, "Should I go see if I can do anything?"

He seemed to think about it before replying, "If you believe it will do good, then you should."

She nodded and went after Solana.

She found her in the main battery pacing.

"Solana..."

The turian turned to face her, anger flickering in her eyes, "What?" she snapped.

The quarian put her arms behind her back in a non-threatening way, "What's wrong?"

Solana made a fist with one hand, "That turian... jerk... uff... fff..."

"I'm sorry, what?" She asked softly.

Solana unclenched her fist, and rubbed her forehead, "That vase he knocked over. It scuffed!" She exhaled loudly, "That was the only thing of my mother's I brought with me..." Her voice got soft, "My mom..." Her voice cracked, and she couldn't continue.

Halah's eyes widened with understanding, "Oh..." She walked up to her and placed a hand on her elbow, "We quarians are pretty crafty. Do you want me to see if I can get the scuff out?"

She nodded, and Halah led her back to the room.

That night, Halah poked Oren in the shoulder to wake him. "Oren... Oren..." She whispered.

After a few moments he stirred, "Halah'Daae?" He looked around, "It's in the middle of the sleep cycle."

She continued to whisper, "I know. I just need some help. Follow me."

He got up and followed her to the lounge. There was a vase on a table, which Halah picked up and brought to Oren.

"This is Solana's. Idan scuffed it, and I volunteered to take the scuff out... Only I can't." She handed it to him, "I think I may have made it worse."

There was a large mark on one side of the ornate metal vase. Oren looked her in the eye, "What did you use on the scuff?"

She started to wring her hands together, "The same compound I use to fix imperfections on my suit."

He raised a brow-ridge, "Which is?"

She walked back to the table, picked up a small container, and handed it to him.

He opened it and sniffed it, "Ah. The vase is platinum." He screwed back on the lid and handed it back to her, "That is not for platinum." He looked back at the vase, "Don't worry. I can fix it."

Halah's voice went higher, "Really?" She hugged him, "Thank you! So, so much!"

In the morning, Solana awoke to an empty room. As soon as she climbed to ground level, she noticed her mother's vase on the lounge area's table. When she picked it up and examined it, a smile crept on her face. It was the first time she smiled in a long, long time.

…...

Within the first hour of her shift, Halah was greeted by the major. After they exchanged greetings, Kaidan explained the reason for his visit, "Your copilot will be arriving within the hour."

She tilted her head, puzzled. "Sir, my copilot is already here. I've been assured that Natalie Bishop is an accomplished pilot for the Alli –"

Kaidan shook his head and interrupted her, "Bishop has been reassigned. I requested a new copilot for you last night... Back on the SR-2, we had an AI for a copilot. EDI was more than helpful. And so I thought I'd get us the next best thing." He smiled.

_Geth_. Shock crossed her features, but it was obscured by her mask, "Sir. Is it a geth?"

He nodded, "Yes. One of the few. It's a geth soldier. A platform named..." He looked on his omni-tool, "Tasi. I believe in your native language, that means 'no one'?"

Just then the airlock pinged. Kaidan turned towards it, "Perfect timing." He mumbled as he went to let the copilot in.

As the airlock's doors opened, Halah joined the major. A geth platform roughly, the height of a quarian with a silver-grey body and a lone optical light, stood at attention.

"Alenko-Major. Geth platform referred to by organics as Tasi. Reporting for duty as copilot of vessel _SSV __Anderson __SR-1_."

"At ease." Kaidan motioned towards towards Halah, "This is our head pilot."

Halah took a step forward to introduce herself, "Halah'Daae vas Fizza. Keelah se'lai Tasi."

"Keelah se'lai," it replied.

Kaidan patted Halah once on the shoulder, "I'll let you two get acquainted. We're heading out for Dekunna at 0900 tomorrow. I've delayed our launch."

…...

_Author's note: Hmm... Wonder where I got the idea for Halah's name? (Hint: DAO's Halla). Oh and yeah, I like using song names for titles when I can't think of anything. XD Anyways, please review or PM and let me know what you guys think! Oh, and also I don't know if this chapter is just gonna be abnormal or not. It's about 4,000 words long. If I continue this fic, the chapters may be a little shorter than this, but I have no idea. I don't want the chapters to go all over the place though... Yeah, I'll just quit writing now. Thanks in advance for R&R! :D_


	2. Chapter 2: Getting Up

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_Author's note: Thanks everyone for the reviews and the PMs and such! I appreciate it! I'm gonna try and continue with the story – for now. I'll try to update once or twice a week (possibly more, not sure). I pretty much wrote this next chapter on Dekunna so I can get a handle on action scenes better. If you've noticed, a lot of my one-shots are action scene-less. I'll try my best, but I'd love some constructive criticism so I can improve! Thanks in advance for the R&R! :D_

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**Chapter 2: Getting Up**

"Tasi."

"Yes, Creator Halah'Daae?"

Halah rubbed the edge of her mask in frustration. It had been three hours since she started working with the geth, and they were still reviewing the proper protocols. _Why can't it understand?_

"Tasi. This simulation is not working. When we encounter too much lateral drift, you are supposed to support – not take control."

"Apologies. This platform has not previously operated with organics. We will alter our subprograms to accommodate."

"Thank you. Let me know when you're ready to begin again."

Once their shift was over, Halah thought that she should introduce Tasi to the rest of the crew. _No one else is going to do it..._

It was time for the evening meal, so she figured that most everyone should be in the mess.

"Tasi. I will introduce you to some of the crew members in the mess hall. Once we're done, return to the cockpit and double-check your protocols. We're traveling to Dekunna tomorrow, and I want to make sure there won't be any problems."

"Creator Daae. That is not necessary. Only one alteration of this platform's subprograms is needed to ensure proper protocol procedures are followed."

She sighed as they entered the elevator, "If that were true, then we wouldn't have had to go through the simulations so many times."

Tasi's optical flaps fluttered, and Halah put up a hand to stall the geth, "You don't need to say anything, Tasi. Just go through it one more time. It can't hurt."

They stepped off the elevator together and walked over towards where the majority of the crew were seated.

Halah coughed to get their attention, "Excuse me. But I'd like to introduce my copilot, the geth platform named Tasi."

Tasi nodded it's 'head' "Greetings organic crew."

Solana flared her mandibles, "What happened to that dark, umm... haired little human girl? Humans have hair, right?"

Traynor giggled and nodded as Halah slouched a little, "The major transferred her. He believes an AI would be a valuable copilot."

Cortez spoke from the next table over, "He's right. EDI was a great asset on the _Normandy_. We probably would have died several times over if it wasn't for her."

Tasi flared its optical flaps, "Geth are familiar with the human-created AI known as EDI. Geth are currently in the process of restoring operational programs and subroutines for this AI."

Steve nodded, "That's good to hear. EDI means a lot to Joker."

Solana clicked her mandibles, "Right. I've heard about that. How's it a human male fell in love with an AI?"

Steve shrugged, and Kaidan walked over and said, "Shepard."

Everyone, including Tasi, looked over towards him, "Shepard encouraged EDI and Joker to start a relationship. I don't know if we can label it as right or wrong, but they loved each other... Love each other." He turned towards Tasi, "It means a lot to us that even though very few geth are left, you are still helping EDI."

Tasi seemed to fidget, "Shepard-Commander is honored amongst the geth. The AI, EDI, assisted Shepard-Commander. We assist EDI."

Kaidan smiled and put a hand on its shoulder, "Thank you."

Shortly thereafter, Tasi returned to the cockpit and Halah joined the rest of the crew in the evening meal.

Kaidan leaned over to speak to the pilot, "So, how's Tasi working out?"

Halah sat straighter, "It seems to be a skilled pilot. We've worked through protocols, and should be good to go tomorrow." She only wished that she was actually as confident as she made herself sound.

"Good." He took a forkful of food, "There was a geth that Shepard worked with. It was named Legion. You should ask Chakwas about it. She's the only one here that has served with it. I met it, so did Traynor and Cortez, but we didn't know it very well."

Halah's glowing pale eyes grew wider, "The Commander worked with a geth _before_ she helped free them from Reaper control?"

He nodded, "Yep. There were those aligned with the Reapers, the Heretics. And there were free geth then too. You'd have to ask the doctor for more info about it. It all still doesn't make much sense to me either."

"I will, sir."

…...

After talking with Dr. Chakwas for what seemed like ages, Halah flopped down in a chair in her shared quarters. She was suddenly very glad that Idan Herus had 'paid' for Dr. Chakwas' bunk. Keelah, if she had to have any more conversations like that.

She looked around and noticed that Solana was asleep in her bunk. No one else was around. She sighed.

All the talk about AIs and geth got Halah to think about VI interfaces. _I wonder what I should requisition?_

She was in the midst of making notes in her omni-tool when Oren Ursul entered. He noticed the faint orange glow from her omni-tool, and looked over her chair to see what she was working on.

"The asari-based programs aren't sufficient for integration into this ship's mainframes."

She jumped in her seat and looked over her shoulder. She narrowed her eyes at him. Oren walked around to take an adjacent seat, "The salarians, however, have created programming that minimizes negative feedback loops and the need for substantial subprograming."

He pulled up his omni-tool, "A shipboard VI is a good idea."

It was 0200 when Herus entered their quarters. Oren and Halah were still in deep debate, though they kept it quiet for the most-part. There were datapads on the floor and table. Idan simply shook his head, and headed towards his bunk. He hoped that they wouldn't keep him awake.

…...

After the launch at 0900 the ground squad gathered in the briefing room on the CIC. Kaidan and Courtney headed the table. Oren and Idan were on one side, and Solana stood at the other side of the large rectangular table in the room's center.

Kaidan cleared his throat and XO Louis began, "In approximately eight hours we will be arriving at Dekunna. The elcor have requested outside assistance. One of their settlements on the outskirts of the capital has gone dark. They've lost communications approximately 52 hours ago. All attempts to establish communications or investigate the situation have failed. It is possible that a husk infestation is the cause. This is low priority, but we will still investigate. The settlement has a low civilian population, but is centered around an independent scientific compound. The entire settlement is surrounded by a large privacy wall."

Kaidan briefly looked at those gathered, "Alright, so this'll be an in the field test run..." He murmured, then paused, "Herus and Vakarian. You will be on stand-by. Louis and Urusl will accompany me planet-side."

Their shifts neared an end as they reached Dekunna. Kaidan postponed the off-shift crew until matters were taken care of on the planet.

Kaidan met Courtney and Oren in the cargo-hold. Courtney quickly put on her dark navy blue and gold padded light armor. It was covered in pouches and clasps. Kaidan wasn't sure what they were for, until he saw her place various grenades, medi-gel and other things in each one. She even sheathed a long thin knife in a holster along her hip. He knew she had adept biotic training, but he figured that she must have picked up a few things on her own.

Oren wore a dark burnt yellow plated light armor. It looked vaguely reminiscent of N7 armor, and was obviously custom-made. He triple-checked his omni-tool's combat programs before he grabbed his Tempest submachine gun and Carnifex heavy pistol from his weapon's locker. Courtney joined him and grabbed her heavily modified Locust submachine gun and a Phalax hand cannon. Kaidan gathered his Vindicator and Carnifex, then led them to the shuttle where Cortez was waiting for them.

After they entered the planet's atmosphere, the team looked out of the shuttle onto the rolling hills of Dekunna. There was little plant life and the occasional large building. Civilization seemed to be quite spread out even though they were near a large city. As they went, the buildings became more sparse, and eventually they came within a click of a large walled compound. They could barely make out the shapes of the inner settlement before they touched down.

After the drop, Cortez returned to the shuttle to flight in order to await extraction. Kaidan gathered his team, "We will enter through an emergency exit on the east side of the compound. It will be slightly less open than if we entered through the front. From what I could see in the shuttle, it looks like it might be under lock-down. I might need you to hack a few things Ursul." The drell nodded.

Kaidan led the way towards the eastern wall, where they confirmed that the settlement was engaged in a lock-down protocol. Oren hacked the door, with Kaidan and Courtney waiting on either side of him against the door's frame. The doors were huge. And it left Oren out in the open in a vulnerable position.

As soon as the door opened, the teammates were face-to-face with a horde of Reaper creatures. Oren dashed for cover by the closest crate, while the other two began to open fire with the combined force of their biotics, assault rifle and submachine gun shots.

Oren opened his omni-tool's combat programs, and quickly selected the one for his combat drone. Once the orange drone warmed up and released, it attacked a nearby husk with an arc of electrical power. The drone's power jumped from one husk to another, dropping three to the ground as they seized and shuttered under the powerful electrical blast.

As he looked about him, the drell noticed Courtney freeze four more husks within a stasis bubble. Oren quickly pulled up his programming for an incinerating blast, and killed the beasts. He could hear their muffled screams as they burnt to ash over the ever pounding blasts of gunfire.

Kaidan shifted from killing the husks around them, to focusing his attacks on a quickly approaching hideous asari mutation. He ordered into his comm, "Focus on the banshee!"

Under the wrath of their combined firepower and abilities, the banshee quickly fell. The final blow to the once beautiful beast, happened to be delivered by Courtney via a well placed biotic warp.

Once the wave of monstrosities ceased, Courtney pulled up her omni-tool, "There is a security hub nearby. It might give us a clue as to what happened here."

Kaidan signaled to proceed, and the two men jogged and follow the XO to the large white building.

As they approached, Oren noted that the security hub had impressive security measures in place. He quickly hacked a door and simultaneously prevented the defensive protocols from engaging, without waiting for the major's orders. The two humans scanned the area for hostiles.

When the door opened, Oren headed for the main terminal unprompted. He hacked through, and uploaded the data to his omni-tool.

He announced his findings, "It seems as though the elcor and asari scientists were testing various weapons on the husks. Mostly plasma-based. There was a breach in security, and the facility was overrun. I don't see any evidence of any survivors... It seems that the settlement was completely overrun within the first two hours after the breach."

Kaidan nodded, "Right." He sighed, "This settlement is in violation of galactic law... Can you forward the information to the local authorities?"

Once the business in the security hub was complete, the three decided to do a little clean-up until the elcor could arrive.

They made their way through to the front of the facility where the hostiles seemed to be the most dense.

Kaidan and Courtney were cornered by hostiles, where they were subsequently pinned down against a destroyed hovercraft. Oren was across the way, kneeling behind an overturned storage crate. The three watched in horror as two brutes came crashing through a glass observation deck into the middle of the horde. The two large monstrosities were momentarily distracted by Oren's drone.

Once the opportunity arose, Courtney decimated the remaining husks with a powerful singularity. The biotic exertion was too much, and she slumped against the craft to regain her focus. She clenched her head to urge the pain to subside.

Kaidan and Oren continued to pepper the brutes. And with a final swipe by the slightly larger monstrosity, Oren's drone blinked out of existence. The pair turned their attention towards their closest target.

It was Oren.

The dark eyed drell quickly looked form side-to-side, and saw a possible safe point on a platform extending from a nearby building.

Kaidan saw where the man's eyes had traveled, and yelled into his comm, "Go for it! I'll cover you!"

The two men could only afford to focus on one beast at a time. Oren ran backwards and switched to his Carnifex. He shot with precision strikes at the larger brute's head. Kaidan drilled holes into its back, not willing to pause and use his biotics.

Just as Kaidan was forced to reload, Oren shot the final two blows to the beast's head and ended its existence.

As Kaidan drew forth his Vindicator, the second and smaller brute charged Oren and slammed him into the building he just reached. Kaidan could hear the sickening scrape of metal on metal as the engineer dropped to the ground.

Just as the brute reared up to charge again, Courtney finally got to her feet. She blew a high-pitched whistle in-between her fingers, and successfully drew the creature's attention away form the limp drell engineer.

She hopped her cover and ran at the brute. She yelled, "Cover me!" as she unsheathed her knife from her side. Her world still spun slightly, but she ran with determination.

Kaidan attacked the offending creature with an onslaught of bullets as the woman made quick work of the distance between them. She promptly ignored any hindrance that the high-gravity of the planet may have caused on her movements.

She jumped and swung, and landed on the brute's back. She drove her blade into the back of its neck. It crashed to the ground with a large thump as its brain activity was effectively severed from its body.

The elcor arrived, and the two humans rushed to the fallen man's side. Kaidan triggered his comm, "Cortez! We have injured! Need extraction immediately! Send word to Chakwas!"

As Courtney pumped the engineer full of medi-gel in the shuttle, Kaidan contacted the elcor authorities to briefly check on their progress.

Once aboard the _Anderson_ Kaidan contacted Halah, "Mission completed. Set a course for Palavan," he said as he was still out of breath from said mission. He watched with concern as the nurse rushed the still unconscious Oren Ursul to the med-bay.

As soon as FTL was engaged Halah relinquished control to Tasi, and rushed down to deck three.

Kaidan was pacing outside of the med-bay.

"Major Alenko! Someone was injured?" Halah started to wring her hands together nervously.

Kaidan snapped his head towards the pilot, "Yes. We were swarmed. Husks. Brutes."

"Who?"

He rubbed his temples, "Oren Ursul."

"Keelah! Is he alright?"

Solana then walked over towards the two from the main battery, "Oren was hurt? How bad?"

Kaidan shook his head, "I'm waiting for an update."

The three stood awkwardly in silence until Nurse Dylan Bell emerged from the med-bay, "Major?" he nodded, "Ursul's condition is stable. He has suffered severe bruising and minor fractures to his upper torso. He also had a concussion. He's conscious, but on a lot of pain medication." The nurse looked up at the two women and he said, "He can have visitors."

Kaidan followed the nurse into the blindingly white medical-bay, and motioned for the other two to follow him.

As the battered drell looked over, Kaidan said, "Good to see you awake, Ursul."

Solana interrupted with a click of her mandibles and a nearly sarcastic, "You look like shit."

Kaidan ignored her and continued to address the injured drell, "How are you holding up?"

Oren clasped his hands slowly over his chest, "Well. Considering what put me here. I've been told that I can return to my work after some bed rest."

Chakwas called over, "Yes. Once the swelling subsides and you're pain free."

Kaidan sighed, "Good to hear," and he then turned around to leave, "Get some rest."

Solana waved a human goodbye and followed the major, but Halah stayed behind.

She tentatively walked to the bedside, "Keelah. I was so worried..."

He smiled, and tried to sit up a little with a wince, "I'm flattered, Halah. But I'm fine." He tried to sound reassuring.

She shook her head, "No you're not... But at least you're in one piece."

"That I am."

She tilted her head down slightly, "We're en route to Palavan. I'll stop by later with something for you to eat." She quickly left before he could say anything else.

A little later that night, when the med-bay was empty save for Oren, Halah made good on her promise. She walked in carrying a tray of food.

She smiled and he saw the brief and rare flash of white behind her mask, "This is some sort of vegetable stew that Mess Sergent Bater had made earlier." She sat the bowl on the bedside tray table, "And something called 'orange' juice. It was, ah, in the levo section." She pulled over a tray table for herself next to him.

He took a bite of the stew, "Thank you Halah."

She took a drink of her dextro ration-paste smoothie, "No problem. It's the least I can do." She tilted her head down to stare at her feet. She stuttered, "I'm, I'm sorry if I kept you up too late. I mean, I don't know if that affected you in the field or not. Like, if your reaction time was slower because you didn't get enough rest or something... I don't know. But I'm very sorry. I swear."

He reached out to pat her hand, and she looked back up at him, "It had nothing to do with that. It was circumstantial. I was cornered... I had enough rest, Halah. You did nothing wrong. I enjoy talking with you."

He saw the brief flash of white again, and she said, "Good. I'm glad."

…...

As Kaidan settled into his quarters, he pulled up his omni-tool to reread the mission report XO Louis compiled. He was to send it to the Alliance higher-ups and the Counsel. After the third read he sent it away, not changing the report in any way.

He was exhausted, but as he looked up from his seat the picture of Shepard caught his eye. He walked up to it, and stroked the black frame.

He smiled and whispered to the now deceased savior of the galaxy, "Went to Dekunna today... Don't know if you've ever been, but it was beautiful... We're heading out to Palavan. I'm going over to see an old friend." He smirked, "Hopefully he'll give us some work."

_~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~._

_Author's Note: Hey again! I'd still love opinions about this story, because I still find it a pain to write. Hopefully it'll get easier as it goes... I have more planned for the Palavan portion of this, with a possible 2 – 3 chapters about it (maybe less). I tried to get this chapter out quickly, and I'm gonna try to keep my chapters around 3,000 – 4,000 words long. I'll likely be a tad busy for the next day or so, but I'll try to update as soon as I can! Sooo, that was like my first longish action scene. Like? Please let me know! Thanks again! :)_


	3. Chapter 3: Hiding

_Author's Note: Thank you to everyone who's read, reviewed, favorited, followed, etc. this story! This fic still makes me nervous, but I think I'm getting into the swing of things now. Next up is Palavan! Enjoy! _

_P.S. Sorry for the delayed update! Father's day and my dad's birthday are so close together, that I was actually far more busy than I thought I would be. Ugh, traveling... So happy birthday to my dad! And let's get on with the chapter! :)_

_~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~._

**Chapter 3: Hiding**

At the start of the following morning shift, Kaidan visited the cockpit.

"What's our estimated ETA?"

Halah tilted her head a little up and back so she could see the major, "Approximately thirty hours." She paused briefly, "Normally it wouldn't take that long, but since not all of the mass relays are active, Tasi and I have had to redirect our route." She tried not to sound too annoyed.

Kaidan patted the top of her chair, "That's fine." He turned slightly to address Tasi too, "Good work you two." He then promptly left and headed up to his quarters.

Once he settled down at his desk, he initiated a vid-call.

The screen was dark until a blurry figure made to move in front of the connecting terminal.

"Alenko?" said a somewhat raspy voice.

Kaidan smiled, "Hey Garrus. How are you?"

"Ah... Good, I guess." Kaidan could hear shuffling in the background, and then a high-pitched squeal. The screen went blurry again, and then Kaidan was face-to-face... err, face-to-mask with a practically bouncing Tali'Zorah vas Normandy.

"Kaidan!" she exclaimed, "Keelah! It's been too long." She looked around the screen, "I see Liara pulled through."

Kaidan sat back, "When hasn't she?"

Tali giggled, "...What are you up to?"

He smirked, "Were en route to Palavan now actually."

She scooted forward, "How long until you get here?"

"Over a day."

Tali shook her head and said something under her breath, "I'm leaving tonight... Those bosh'tets really need to fix those relays. It takes me nearly twice as long to get to Rannoch." She gestured with her hands.

"That's too bad, Tali."

The screen went blurry again, and now Garrus was seated next to Tali. Garrus turned to face her and grumbled, "I like how you've taken over _my_ terminal." He pointed at himself.

She giggled and slapped his arm, "You know you love it." The turian broke out into a grin.

Kaidan coughed to get their attention. Garrus quickly turned to face him, "So, ah, how's the crew?"

"You mean, how's your sister?"

Garrus flared his mandibles in response.

"She's good. Seems to be adjusting well... I haven't brought her out on the field yet. The cannons are in need of a little TLC. I'm giving her time to fix them up."

Garrus nodded, and Kaidan sat forward, "Just wanted to relay our ETA, so you'd know when to expect us. See you in about thirty hours."

"See ya."

Tali waved, "Keelah se'lai."

…...

Solana was busy working at the battery's terminal, nearing the end of her shift, when she heard the door slide open. She turned around expecting the major, or maybe even one of the engineers, but was surprised when she saw XO Courtney Louis.

"Officer Louis," she greeted.

Courtney waved her hand in a dismissive gesture, "No need for formality... I'm here informally." She smiled.

Solana was genuinely confused. She thought the executive officer was, if anything, stricter or more by the book than the major. She tilted her head slightly and responded, "Oh, is that so?"

The human nodded, "Yes. I thought it would be a good idea to visit each member of the ground squad. For continuity... um... So we'd get to know one another better."

"Have you visited the others yet?" She was actually curious.

"I'm nearing the end of my checklist. Feeling chatty today." She smiled again.

Solana wasn't sure if the XO was being completely honest, or if she even believed her own words, but she decided to converse with the human woman anyways.

"Did you want to talk about anything in particular?"

The human visibly relaxed somewhat, "I was looking over your service history, and I noticed there was a brief period where you resigned from the turian military." Her statement was more of a question.

"Yes. My mother was ill, and I had to return to our home on Palavan."

"Oh," she lowered her voice, "ooh. Right. Well that explains that... Is there anything you'd like to know about me?" She asked hesitantly.

Solana had to suppress a grin from spreading across her face, "I was wondering if you and Engineer Idan Herus were close? You seem to know each other."

"Ah..." She fidgeted. The woman was visibly uncomfortable discussing her personal life, "I was on Earth during the final push against the Reapers, and Herus and his squadmates were there also. Our teams met up, and we spent awhile cleaning up some Reaper creatures on the outskirts of London."

"So you kept in contact after?"

Courtney nodded, "Yeah. On and off."

Solana got an idea, "Keep in contact with anyone else from the squad?"

"Um..." she looked off to the side, "One or two. Not many of them are... chatty."

"I see." Solana decided to let her go. She got all the info she wanted, "Well I should get back to these calibrations... Thanks for stopping by."

Courtney straightened and turned around, "Right. Thanks for the chat."

...

The time went by quicker than Kaidan had expected. Soon enough he and Solana were standing just outside of the _Anderson_'s airlock waiting for the docking procedures to complete. He having just taken some preventative radiation sickness drugs, and feeling quite woozy, and she cradling two short and wide white boxes in her arms.

When they stepped out into the Palavan spaceport, they were met by a tall tan turian solider who was to escort them to Garrus' office in the city's center.

As soon as the two entered Garrus' office space, Solana rushed to her older brother, clasped his upper arm and brushed her mandible against his affectionately. They parted, and Garrus shook Kaidan's hand.

"Alenko. It's good to see you." He flared his mandibles in a friendly turian grin.

"You too. How've things been down here?"

He sighed, "No worse than usual. Doing my best to help the Primarch rebuild Palavan..." he trailed off.

Kaidan added softly, "Like Shepard suggested."

"Yeah."

Solana nudged her brother, "You two need to lighten up. Here. This'll help." She placed her two boxes on her brother's desk.

The two men gathered around as she opened them up. She revealed two heavy metal statuettes. She handed her brother the one shaped as Tali'Zorah vas Normandy, and handed Kaidan the one modeled after her brother's form.

Garrus chuckled, "Where in the Spirit's name did you get these?"

She chirped happily, "A gift shop on Earth. The entire team is famous you know." She turned towards Kaidan, "They have one like you too... But, I bought these for Garrus and Tali. Got them at the shop in the spaceport we were docked at. Can't miss it."

She turned back towards her brother, "Where's Tali anyway? I thought she was visiting."

Garrus tilted his head a little, "She had to leave already." He looked back down at her likeness in his hands, "But I'll give this to her next time I see her."

Solana shook her head, "Tali's figurine is for you. And she gets the miniature Garrus." She said happily.

"Oh... Ah, thanks."

Solana pulled her mandibles in a turian smirk, and turned towards Kaidan, "I'll be going back to the _Anderson_, Major. Not quite done with those calibrations yet." She turned to leave, and stopped in the doorway, "Talk to you later Garrus."

Once Solana left, Kaidan had to ask Garrus, "Are calibrations and sniper rifles a Vakarian thing?"

Garrus chuckled, "Maybe. Mom was a weapon's specialist and dad's a retired C-Sec sniper. Just things we picked up from them I guess."

"Right," Kaidan sighed, "Anyways... I was wondering if there was anything you could use our team for? You know, for old times sake."

"And not to maintain good relations between the Alliance and the Hierarchy?" Garrus asked sarcastically.

Kaidan chuckled, "Maybe a little."

Garrus walked over towards his desk and picked up a datapad, "Reaper clean-up is still our top priority. There's a possible horde in the nearby outskirts. Sound good?"

...

When Kaidan called for a briefing, only Louis and Herus showed up. Oren Ursul was still in the med-bay. And Solana was in the midst of some complicated calibrations, and couldn't be separated from the main guns.

Kaidan cleared his throat, "There have been reports of a possible Reaper infestation in a remote area nearby. We've been asked to investigate and eliminate all hostiles." He looked at the two gathered, "Both of you will accompany me. Meet me by the shuttle in one hour."

...

As Cortez landed the shuttle just inside the sparsely wooded and rocky area, Kaidan gave him an affirmative nod of his head as his teammates exited before him.

Everyone double-checked their heatsinks before moving, and Idan Herus powered up his orange tech armor. Kaidan couldn't help but notice that the flickering orange of his tech armor was the same shade as the markings decorating the sides of the black-plated turian's face. His Katana shotgun and Avenger were even outlined with orange detailing.

The trio walked swiftly through the few tall gangly trees and short shrubs. Each giving one another plenty of room, but still close enough to support.

As they neared an area with significantly more jagged rocks and hills, they spotted a lone husk. Louis took it out with her muzzled Phalax. A clean, quiet headshot.

They crouched and tried to determine where the husk came from. Out of the corner of his eye, Kaidan noticed a huge opening jutting out of the side of a nearby rocky hill. He signaled for the others to follow him.

As they approached, Courtney took out two more husks. Both headshots.

Kaidan signaled for their lights, and then entered the cave followed by his executive officer and engineer.

The trio couldn't stay unnoticed for long, and within no time they were attacking a swarm of husks in the dark of the cave. Human, turian, and even the rare batarian creature attacked them.

Idan froze a former turian with his cryoblast, and beheaded it with his flaming omni-blade. Once the body shattered before him, he spotted the largest brute he's ever seen charging for the human biotics on the opposite wall. The creature was someways away from the group.

He shouted at Kaidan and Courtney through his comm, but all he heard was static. _Damn._ His communicator must have been damaged somehow. He quickly decided to run towards them in warning.

With his superior turian speed at his advantage, he reached Courtney first. She was slightly more exposed near the cave's center. He spun her around so she could see the brute. She jumped at the sight, but quickly turned back around to follow the turian towards their major.

As soon as Kaidan noticed his two squadmates running towards him, his barrier died out. He spotted the large brute. It looked like it was created from two, maybe three, krogans and at least one turian. But it was difficult to tell in the dim of the cave.

Courtney Louis pointed and yelled at the top of her lungs as soon as she determined her communicator was ineffective, "Heading into the opening on your 3 o'clock!"

Kaidan fired off a few shots from his Vindicator, and ran into the narrow opening on the cave wall's surface. He took out two husks as Herus and Louis entered behind him.

The three turned, weapons drawn, at the quickly approaching brute. The monster rammed, _hard_, into the cave's wall in a vain attempt to reach the intruders. The opening was barely wide enough for the turian to enter, the humongous Reaper creature would never gain admittance.

With the combined firepower piercing its rough hide and with the inability to end it, the furious creature continually rammed its broad shoulders against the hidey hole's entrance.

Something gave, and the cave shook around the team. Rocks crumbled and fell around them. Part of the ceiling gave and fell. And as soon as the dust cleared, the opening's entrance was no more.

The team was trapped.

"Fuck!" Kaidan exclaimed. He shouldered where the opening once was, while still quite aware of a giant brute on the other side. The rocks didn't budge.

Courtney began to survey the small room's area, while Idan went to assist the major in his attempts to free the ruble.

"We're trapped," Courtney said grimly as as she finished pacing the length of the space.

Kaidan turned towards her, "Have any grenades on you?"

She shook her head, "I only carry lift grenades..." She checked along her suit, "and I used them all."

Idan's eyes darted between the two humans, "You're both biotics, right? Can't you just push this shit out of the way?"

Now Kaidan shook his head, "Too much..." He breathed in deeply, adrenaline still coursing through his system, "If we do that, then we'll both be useless when the husks poor in. My amp's already hot."

The three fell into silence, and for a moment all they could hear were the last shots of Idan's turrent and the grumbles of the beasts on the other side of the wall.

The brute roared and scared the group out of their daze.

Kaidan's hand quickly flew up to his comm, "Halah. Do you read me?" Static. "Cortez?" More static.

Courtney shook her head, "Palavan's surface is high in natural metals. Our comms are useless." She looked towards Idan and than back at Kaidan, "We'll have to wait for your contact to send more men."

Kaidan nodded, "Traynor will call Garrus if we don't report soon."

Idan grumbled, his lower harmonics growing loud, "And then they have to find us."

Courtney sighed and turned the two husk bodies to ash with a weak biotic warp, "We don't know how long we'll be here, " she turned to look up at the two men, "I suggest we take shifts for watch... I have medi-gel, a flask of water, and some protein rations." Her eyes shifted towards Idan, "Dextro and levo."

Kaidan quirked a brow, "Why do you have levo and dextro rations?"

She shrugged, "I'd rather have it and not need it, than need it and not have it."

Idan sat down with another grumble, and took out one of his turrents. He partially activated it, so only the optical light was on. It lit up more of the dark room than their personal lights.

...

Courtney was the only one awake by the time she was on her three hour shift. Despite how worn down her body was from physical and biotic exhaustion, she could not see going to sleep now. Perhaps it was due to nerves or adrenaline. What ever the reason, Courtney was just not tired.

About a quarter of the way through her shift, she was in the middle of tossing her knife and catching it, when she noticed something shift near her. She caught her knife by the handle and spun around while sitting. She held a defensive posture for mere seconds, until she noticed Idan Herus shuffling towards her.

"Herus." She said in greeting as he sat beside her on the cool cave floor, legs outstretched.

"Courtney." She fought to suppress a shiver as his low gravely voice, lower from disuse and aggravation, said her name.

They sat there for a few moments in silence, and Courtney began to toss her knife again.

"Can't sleep?" She offered.

He snorted in reply. A few seconds passed, and his hand shot out to grab her knife's handle mid-flight.

She growled in the back of her throat as he brought it closer to his face to examine.

"I've seen you with this before." He turned his head slightly, "It's asari."

"I know," her voice was quieter than usual.

He raised a turian brow, and ran a talon down the blade's length, "You have that look like you want to tell me something, but you're holding back."

She rolled her eyes, "I hate that you picked up on reading humans so easily."

"And you're deflecting."

She sighed and looked at the knife, "Belonged to Channa T'Nysa."

After a few heartbeats, Idan questioned, "...Who is?"

She rolled her head back and looked at the ceiling, "My brother Arthur's wife."

Quiet consumed them again before Courtney continued, "That was the only solid thing I could find in their house's remains on Thessia."

Idan spun the knife around in his hand, and handed it handle first back to Courtney. She looked down at the knife, and slowly went to grab it. She consciously rubbed her thumb along Idan's before she started to pull the blade away.

Idan stopped her by lifting her chin up with his free hand. He looked down at her eyes, his dark green meeting her pale blue. He slowly bent to rest his forehead against hers. His hot plates against her cool skin felt soothing. As he pulled away, she regained her knife.

"Thank you... For comforting me," and they returned to silence.

Kaidan was awake long enough to see this last exchange between the two. He felt a bit like an intruder, so he forced his own eyes to stay closed until he fell back asleep. He wasn't sure what to think about it, or if he even should.

...

Some time later the three were checking their weapons, due to lack of anything else to do. And they began to hear gunshots and shouting inside the cave, near where they were trapped.

Idan's more sensitive hearing allowed him to make out what was being said on the other side of the rubble:

_"Found spent heatsinks!"_

_"Here's a ruined turrent! Must be nearby!"_

"Hey! We're in here!" He shouted in return. The others quickly joined in his efforts.

With some labored digging on both sides, the group was eventually free.

They were in that filthy, dark, Reaper spawn infested cave for thirteen hours. _Thirteen long, long hours_, Kaidan thought as he finally blinked at the bright Palavan sky. _It should not be this bright this early in the morning... Super short night cycles, _his mental self grumbled.

After thanking the soldiers that found them, and messaging Garrus, Kaidan found himself standing in front of Traynor saying, "24-hour shore-leave. Effective at the end of this shift."

He needed a shower. And food. And maybe to see Chakwas... That radiation medicine didn't sit well with his system. He felt a bit dizzy. _Yeah, probably from the meds..._

_~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~._

_Author's note: So, I wasn't too sure about pairing Idan and Courtney together...But, who'd you guys like to see paired up? I have three couples in mind (or in progress) now, but Kaidan isn't in any of them. I don't think I want him to move on from Shep in this fic, but I'd love to hear opinions! Oh, and do you guys want me to include a dossier like-thing in the AN of the next chapter on all the OCs (and Solana)? Thanks again!_


	4. Chapter 4: Away Now

_Author's note: Many thanks to all of my dedicated readers! You guys are awesome! :) All the business with my family is all wrapped up, so I should have more time to dedicate to this work. This next chapter will cover some emotions and is pretty much just filler stuff. ;) Please comment, and let me know your likes/dislikes! Thankies a bunch!_

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**Chapter 4: Away Now**

"Hey Chakwas? You got a minute?"

Kaidan still didn't feel right after his shower and short meal. He decided that he ought to check in with the good doctor.

She smiled and turned around, "Sure thing. What do you need?"

"Is it normal to feel dizzy after those meds?"

The woman quirked a brow, "Some people have adverse reactions to the radiation medication, but they usually show symptoms soon after - not hours later." She turned on her omni-tool, "How long have you felt dizzy?"

"Um..." He sat on a bed near her desk, "Soon after we were stuck in the cave, I guess."

"Have you eaten?"

"Yes."

"Good." She peered up at him, "Do you have a history of claustrophobia?"

"What? No." He shook his head, and it made him groan.

"Let me scan your amp."

The scan was quick and, as always, painless. The doctor typed a few things on her omni-tool, and looked up at him with her full attention, "Everything is clean... Perhaps your dizziness isn't caused by something physical. Has anything made you feel panicky, frightened, or depressed?"

"Depressed?" He repeated the word as though it was bitter to say.

"Yes," she nodded her head, "Mental pain can manifest itself into physical pain quite easily."

His mind flashed back to the scene he saw with Idan and Courtney in the cave not too long ago. He sighed, _what is wrong with me?_

When he raised his gaze to look back at the kind doctor, he noticed that she was quietly looking at him with concern.

Slowly and quietly she asked, "...Have you been thinking about... Shepard?"

When he didn't reply, she walked over towards him and laid a gentle hand on his shoulder, "Kaidan. You know I am always here for you. But perhaps you'd like to speak with my nurse, Dylan Bell? He has a degree or two in psychology, if I remember correctly."

He patted her hand, "Thanks Doc. But, I think I'm just going to go and try and relax for now. Shore-leave is just about here." He tried to offer her a small smile. He wasn't sure if he was successful.

She withdrew her hand, "Alright Kaidan. Don't hesitate to come back if you need anything. I'll be staying on the ship, probably dealing with the normalcies associated with leaves. Hangovers and broken bones." She smiled as he left.

When Kaidan stepped towards the elevator, his omni-tool pinged with a new message:

_-Alenko: Dropping by to pick up Sol and check out your ship. Garrus.-_

Kaidan smiled a little more genuinely as he entered the elevator to head up to the CIC.

...

Kaidan was dragged into a very firm handshake as Garrus Vakarian came aboard.

"Alenko! Husks didn't rough you up too bad I see." He laughed.

Kaidan shook out his hand, "No more than normal." He looked around, "Looks like most of the crew has left. You want me to introduce you to who's left?"

Garrus agreed, and they headed to the cockpit first, where Halah and Tasi were still seated.

"This is our pilot Halah'Daae vas Fizza. And her copilot, the geth platform Tasi."

On their way out of the cockpit, they stopped briefly at Specialist Traynor's terminal and exchanged a few words before heading into the elevator.

Kaidan pressed the interface for deck three, "Solana might still be in the battery."

Garrus leaned back on the elevator's wall and crossed his arms, "Has she given you any problems yet?"

"No," he raised a brow, "Should she have?"

He flared his mandibles, "Let's just say that the only thing keeping her from receiving higher ranks in the military, is her mouth."

The elevator door opened before Kaidan could add anything on that topic.

Idan Herus flared his mandibles, and boomed, "Vakarian!"

The two turians greeted each other, and then Idan asked, "What brings you here?"

Garrus shrugged with one arm, "Alenko is giving me a tour before I drag Solana away from the guns."

Idan's mandibles drooped a bit, "Spirits, you were right about her."

Garrus grinned and turned towards Kaidan, "See? Mouth."

Courtney coughed once from beside Idan and extended her hand towards Garrus, "Executive Officer Courtney Louis. Pleased to make your acquaintance, sir."

Garrus gave Idan a look as he shook her hand, "_Courtney Louis_?" He repeated.

"Yes." She too gave Idan a look of _I want to know what's going on_, but with malice instead of curiosity.

The group parted, and soon after Garrus was successful in stripping Solana away from the main guns.

...

The turian brother and sister sat in silence for a short time, before Solana could take no more.

"So, what have I missed since I've been away?"

Garrus tilted his head slightly, "You haven't been gone too long Sol. Nothing has really happened. Clean-up is still underway. Restoration... And a bunch of stuff you don't really care about."

"What stuff?"

He shook his head once, "You really won't care."

"Tell _me_."

He huffed a breath, "The volus have reclaimed part of the city. We've begun open trade with Rannoch. And Tali's organizing regular civilian transportation between here and Rannoch, amongst other things."

She slapped his shoulder, "That's good. Maybe you'll see her more often, huh?"

"Maybe."

Once they arrived at their destination Garrus paid the fare, and walked with Solana towards the Vakarian family home. It was a white building, obviously recovering from much disrepair, but in one piece. The corners of the very angular home were cracked and dulled, and several windows were missing.

"How's the central courtyard coming along?" Solana asked as they approached the front door flanked on either side by abstract metal pieces of art.

Garrus shrugged, "He's been laying down the stone. And I've order a pair of benches."

As Solana keyed the interface she asked, "You still staying in that apartment?"

"Yeah. It's not too bad. Quiet for the area."

The door slid open to reveal an older turian with cracked and worn plates from age, "Father!" Solana greeted.

"It's so good to see you," the eldest Vakarian said as he pulled away from his daughter's embrace.

They entered the home and settled down in the common area of the home.

"The house looks great," Solana happily chirped as she took a seat.

Her father nodded, "It's improving." He flared his mandibles in a turian grin, "How's life aboard an Alliance vessel?"

She shrugged, "Just about how Garrus told me it would be. Major Alenko seems to be honorable and capable. He takes his duty seriously. Though I know your feelings on Spectres," she shrugged a little. "The other humans are alright. They mostly keep to themselves."

She turned partially to address her older brother, "I do get along with that Specialist Traynor, like you said. The doctor seems nice too, but I only spoke to her once."

She turned back towards her father, "I'm not the only alien, or turian. But I _don't_ like Idan Herus. I hope the drive core fries his fringe."

Garrus chuckled, "I told Liara..."

His father interrupted, "Liara. That asari that helped with your mother's final arrangements?"

Garrus nodded, "She made a promise to help Alenko in any way possible, since Shepard died..."

A solemn silence befell the small family, before their father spoke up again, "Come on you two. Since you're here, you can help me with the stone."

...

As Courtney and Idan walked along the wide streets under the slight shadows of the tall white, metal, and glass buildings of Palavan's capital city, Idan's eyes scanned over towards his companion.

"Wouldn't you be more comfortable in civvies? You just look like you're... melting."

She wiped a collection of sweat from her brow, "If I'm not wearing my armor, I'm wearing my blues. But it is... sweltering." She looked up towards the taller turian, "Could we stop somewhere? With air conditioning?"

He pulled up his omni-tool's interface and keyed a few things, "There's an asari clothing shop nearby. You need to change. We have time."

As they approached the shop Courtney groaned, "I should have worn my armor. Its environmental controls would've been better." She peaked through the window, "Way more better than... dresses."

After a half hour of bickering, Idan pulled Courtney aside and whispered, "You need to pick out _something_. We have somewhere to be."

A second store clerk emerged from the back of the shop, "Here. I found this. It's based on Earth fashion, maybe you'll be more comfortable in it?" She placed a hand on the other, fuming, store clerk to calm her down. She was ready to throw out the human.

Courtney held up the dress for inspection. It was a long, white flowing maxi dress with asari-style sleeveless straps on the top. Courtney wordlessly walked over to the dressing rooms and tried on the dress. As she emerged she smiled at the pair of clerks, "I think I'll get it, but I need shoes."

She walked out into the blistering heat of the Palavan city-scape with a large purple bag across one shoulder, containing her Alliance blues and boots, and feeling much more free in the loose white dress and sky blue asari-style flat shoes that complimented her eyes. She felt surprisingly feminine.

Idan smirked with one mandible, "You look happier."

"Oh I am. I feel much, much better." She smiled, "This is now the only dress I own, and it's a miracle."

Her smile disappeared, "Where are we going? You never did say."

"Remember my one guilty pleasure?"

Courtney smiled again and nodded once.

Soon thereafter, the pair found themselves entering a cafe that sold an assortment of dextro and levo baked goods and drinks. It was busy and looked to be an extravagant place, for a cafe.

"This place looks expensive," Courtney murmured as they stood in line.

After they had their drinks and food, they found a small somewhat secluded table with two stools.

"This is great," said Courtney. "I always thought you were joking about those little cakes."

Idan smiled, "My one weakness."

Courtney took a sip of her coffee-based asari dessert drink, "So, how long have you known Garrus Vakarian?"

Idan raised one brow plate, "Since basic. We served together for a little after that too. We'd get together and get drunk whenever we were on leave."

"Wanna tell me why he gave you a look after I introduced myself? Seems like he's heard about me."

"Ah..." Idan sipped his own drink, "I might have mentioned you. Once or twice."

She smirked, "Telling people about me? And here I thought we were keeping things quiet until we figured this out."

He raised both brow plates, "What's there to figure out?"

"Well for one, we're lucky to even be on the same planet, let alone ship. And that's only because we're both good at what we do. We went from long distance and just testing the waters, to practically living together. That's a big leap."

She paused, "Hell, I don't even know if you have any family. And I just recently told you about mine. You know, I'm the last Louis around."

"No parents. Two older brothers. Mikkel and Nikos. Both bonded. One niece, Kikelia," he stated confidently.

Courtney scrunched her eyebrows together, "That's not the point. Secondly, there's the whole interspecies business... Which if my brother was still around, wouldn't have been a problem on my end. But, I doubt Mikkel and Nikos would care for their youngest brother to be involved with a human. I highly doubt they're with an asari, or quarian or something."

He tilted his head, "Mikkel's with Ilayda. Nikos is with Joriana and they have Kikelia, who's just a few months old. They're all turians." He added more seriously, "But I don't care what they think."

Courtney rolled her eyes. Then an idea struck Idan and he leaned over the table conspiratorially, "I've never met Kikelia. The last time I saw Nikos and Joriana was when she was pregnant. They live in the city, do you want to meet them?"

"What?" she exclaimed a little too loudly in the still crowded cafe. The couple received a few odd looks.

She lowered her voice and continued, "And you say what? 'Oh hi Nikos. I haven't seen you in awhile, but hey here's my human girlfriend.'"

He smirked, "You're my 'girlfriend' huh? I thought we were still figuring this out."

She glared at him, "What do you know about girlfriends and boyfriends?"

"Just that they're titles that some humans give one another when they're involved in an intimate relationship."

She rolled her eyes again, "Whatever... If you honestly want me to meet your brother and his family, tell him about me before we show up. I don't want to give them a heart attack."

"Joriana already knows about you, and she's bad at keeping secrets. So Nikos probably knows by now. Especially since I told her we're on the _Anderson _together."

Courtney dragged a hand down her face, "That's just lovely."

...

Soon after Garrus left the ship with Solana, Kaidan found himself roaming the streets of Palavan with no real goal in mind. The heat was blistering, but no one else seemed to have problems with it, so he figured it just must be normal weather.

Alone with his thoughts, he revisited his conversation with Dr. Chakwas. Then again, the scene with Idan and Courtney replayed. He shook his head once. _Why do I keep thinking about that?_

He remembered how he had comforted Shepard when she was troubled. Did he miss those moments? That bond, that intimacy? _Perhaps so_, he thought grimly.

The first time Shepard died, he was devastated. A complete and utter wreck. He drank so much, he was surprised he was still alive. But that experience shaped him, prevented him from completely loosing it this time. And he even had his mother there to help through the grieving process. He helped her manage with the loss of his father too.

Could he ever really be over Shepard? _No_, he thought, _no one can forget her._

Maybe he really should talk to Nurse Bell.

...

Very few people were still aboard the _Anderson_, and so when Halah stepped out into the mess after checking in on a nearly recovered Oren Ursul she ran into Specialist Samantha Traynor.

Traynor waved to Halah, "Halah'Daae! Care to join me for a quick bite?"

"Uh... Sure."

After they were both seated, Traynor started talking, "You know that's very sweet of you to keep visiting Engineer Ursul. I'm sure he appreciates it."

"Um, yeah."

"So how's he doing?" She seemed to be curious enough.

"Much better. He'll be released for duty after a few more tests," Halah responded excitedly.

"Are you going out later then?"

Traynor could see the quarian squint her glowing eyes in thought, "No. I don't think so. There's nothing really for me to do... What about you?"

The human shook her head, "We're getting some... curious signals. I'm still trying to figure them out. I think they might be Cerberus. Besides, Palavan's much too hot for me."

"Have you ever been?"

"Not to the surface."

...

As Kaidan walked through the airlock and headed to the elevator with the intention of going to the med-bay, he was stopped by Traynor.

"Major! I was just going to ping you. We've been able to intercept a transmission from an Eclipse ship in a nearby system. They're communicating with Cerberus." She paused briefly, "I believe they're being hired to steal information from the salarian STG."

"How certain are you?"

"Just about one-hundred percent, sir."

Kaidan nodded, "Good work Traynor. Call an early end to the leave. Message all the men that are out. I want everyone aboard in three."

_~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~._

_Author's note: Here's some info (that may be helpful) on each OC and Solana (some info is omitted since it'll be brought to light in the story):::_

_Courtney Louis:: Formally Lieutenant, now Executive Officer of the SSV Anderson. Biotic Abilities: Singularity, warp, stasis. Additional Abilities: Use of lift grenades and knife. Weapons: M-12 Locust and M-5 Phalax. _

_Oren Ursul:: Former engineer in hanar fleet, now Chief Engineer of the SSV Anderson. Tech Abilities: Combat drone, overload, incinerate, cryoblast. Weapons: M-9 Tempest and M-6 Carnifex. _

_Idan Herus:: Former turian military engineer, now Assistant Engineer of the SSV Anderson. Tech Abilities: Tech armor, overload, cryoblast, turrent. Weapons: M-23 Katana and M-8 Avenger._

_Solana Vakarian:: Former weapons specialist with infiltration training in turian military, now Gunnery Chief of SSV Anderson. Tactical Abilities: Distruptor ammo, tactical cloak, cryo ammo, overload. Weapons: M-98 Widow and M-3 Predator._

_Halah'Daae vas Fizza:: Former pilot of the quarian ship Fizza. The Fizza was a part of the heavy fleet's advanced fighter squadron. Current Pilot of the SSV Anderson. Light military training prior to pilgrimage. _

_Tasi:: Geth platform. Former soldier, now Copilot of SSV Anderson. _

_Dylan Bell:: Current nurse under Dr. Chakwas. Additional degrees in psychology; therapist._

_Mess Sergent Bater:: Chef of SSV Anderson._


	5. Chapter 5: Working

_Author's note: Okay so my laptop is being a jerk, so I'll be surprised if I get this chapter out by the time I had planned... Anyways, I want to thank everyone again! And I'm taking all of your comments/suggestions into consideration while I write. I really appreciate it! ;) Enjoy the read!_

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**Chapter 5: Working**

Instead of the three hours to get everyone back on the ship, like Kaidan wanted, it took five. Perhaps that was the best he could hope for, what with calling a twenty-four hour leave short. And Kaidan hadn't been able to speak to Nurse Bell, like he had planned. By 1400 they were on their way to the coordinates Traynor compiled for the Eclipse ship _Jeriza_.

When Kaidan went to debrief his ground team members of their next assignment, he had to quickly decide who his third would be. He wanted to rotate his team, and Courtney Louis had already been out on the last two missions. Oren Ursul just got out of the infirmary, and he didn't want to bring him. That left Solana and Idan, but somehow Idan Herus had gotten completely hammered while on leave.

Kaidan fought the urge to snap at the engineer. _Chakwas did say that hangovers and broken bones were common... _

"How long will you be indisposed Engineer Herus?"

The tall dark turian stood ramrod straight, despite how drunk he was, "Dr. Chakwas has given me medication. I should be good to go in four-to-six hours."

Kaidan ground his teeth together and looked over towards the drell, "Engineer Ursul, do think you can handle joining us?"

The drell nodded and clasped his hands behind his back, "The doctor has cleared me for duty, and I am confident in my abilities."

"Good. Vakarian and Ursul you should prep. ETA thirty-five minutes."

…...

As they approached the _Jeriza_ Halah engaged the stealth systems of the _Anderson_.

She radioed Kaidan in the lower deck, "Major, the Eclipse have some backup. There's at least four single fighters that I can see. I'll provide a distraction as you board in the shuttle."

"Alright. Don't take any unnecessary risks."

Cortez piloted the shuttle to the aft side of the Eclipse ship, while Halah'Daae, with some assistance from Tasi, piloted the _Anderson_ in some complex maneuvers to draw off the fighters. Kaidan looked out of the shuttle's window and saw why Liara was so impressed with the quarian pilot. She could definitely give Joker a run for his money as 'best pilot contracted by the Alliance'. _If those two ever met..._

The three took a short spacewalk on the hull of the ship to an engineer's hatch to try and avoid detection. Their goal was to infiltrate the ship and gather information. The best sources would be from the Eclipse's communication logs on their comm array, and if that failed they could always hack a terminal with a hard uplink to the ship's servers. An added bonus, depending on the situation on the inside, was to blow the ship to hell. That particular bit was added into the plan on the behest of one Solana Vakarian. Kaidan couldn't really argue with it. If they confirmed the merc's involvement with Cerberus, then that involvement should be severed.

As Oren began to hack the maintenance hatch, Kaidan's mind wondered. This was only his first spacewalk since Shepard had told him of her death. _Spaced._

Shepard told him the details of her death in the wreckage of the _Normandy SR-1_, a few days after her solo spacewalk on that godforsaken geth ship. _God. That seems so long ago..._

Shepard may have seemed calm over the comm as she walked across that battered docking tube with only her grav-boots to protect her, but she wasn't. Later in the confines of her cabin, she told Kaidan everything.

When she was spaced, she could feel _everything_. The cold seeping in and penetrating her bones. The burning of her lungs. Even her throat tightening with every strangled breath.

_Shepard looked up at him with glazed eyes, "My hands started to shake first. Then, then my eyes stung. I could hear the air hissing at the back of my head. I tired to fix it, but my fingers – they wouldn't work. It was so cold. The coldest I've ever felt. It made my bones feel like cement. My muscles ached and wouldn't work. I kept telling my hands to grab that line, but they couldn't. My eyes stung with tears, and my throat hurt. I couldn't breath. The tightness... My chest, my throat, my head – it was tight." _

She told him her last thoughts too. She worried – her crew they had to be safe, they had to survive. She knew she was going to die. She wanted to live for them, continue to be there and fight. And as her body twitched with oxygen deprivation, she told him the last thing she could remember was his name. _Kaidan_, her mind whispered as the last tendrils of life receded from her.

Kaidan couldn't fathom that, still couldn't. That horrid solo spacewalk had made those long hidden memories resurface with a vengeance. She cried for the first time in what must have been years that night, cradled in his arms.

_Kaidan. I wanted to be there for you. I wanted to be the woman that everyone thought I was, but I wasn't. I failed._

And as with that spacewalk, this one brought those pained memories to the surface of his own mind. He will never forgive himself for not being there for her like he should have. She was strong, but she needed someone to lean on, someone to trust. And he did too. And now she's gone.

Oren hacked into the maintenance hatch easily, and without getting the attention of the mercs. Solana entered the ship first with her tactical cloak active, and her Widow sniper rifle at the ready. She took out one merc with a silenced shot, and signaled to the two men to enter by pounding twice on the hull.

Kaidan entered next followed by the drell engineer, who signaled in the most logical direction of the comm array. The other two followed quickly behind.

The few mercs that the team came across were quickly taken care of by the silenced shots of Solana's Widow. Solana's piercing pale grey eyes seemed to be able to detect movement much faster than either Kaidan or Oren could. Although Kaidan was pretty certain that the drell's eye sight was far better than his too.

Thankfully they made it to the hub with little incident, and Oren quickly went to work on hacking and uploading information into his omni-tool. Kaidan and Solana stood at watch.

While Solana was scanning the immediate area of the engineering deck, she spotted a perfect place to setup her explosive charges – right on the flight stabilizers.

Solana moved to set-up her charges, as Oren continued to extract information from the Eclipse ship. They both finished quickly, and soon the trio headed back out to the engineering hatch and their extraction point.

_That was way too easy. _Kaidan knew that no mission should ever go so smoothly – that wasn't his luck.

The shuttle pulled away from the _Jeriza_, Kaidan could see the _Anderson_ in the distance tailed by two stealth fighters. _Wasn't there four?_

Two, or even four, small fighters were not match for a ship like the _Anderson_, but the two fighters that suddenly appeared behind the shuttle, well, that was a problem.

Cortez cursed under his breath as he tried to outrun the enemy, and hopefully get far enough out of range that they'd back off – or at least reach where the _Anderson_ could assist.

Halah radioed them, "Scans indicate the _Jeriza_'s guns are targeting the shuttle. I'll bring the _Anderson_ as close as I can, but you'll have a narrow window to dock."

It wasn't exactly the easiest thing to pilot a shuttle that was being targeted by two fighters, and trying to board a moving ship that was also being targeted by two fighters. But by either outstanding skill, will, or luck – Cortez was able to get the team back aboard. With only minor scrapes and bruises resulting from some odd twisting, zigzagging evasion techniques.

As soon as the _Anderson _was out of range, Solana hit the switch for her charges and the Eclipse ship was no more. The resulting explosion took out three fighters too. Halah happily finished off the last one.

The shuttle certainly would need some TLC after that. Cortez set to work almost immediately.

…...

Once Kaidan dealt with the usual post-mission work, he found that he wasn't very tired. He decided to go out on the CIC and maybe look out at the stars in the cockpit. How ever odd it was, star gazing still had a soothing effect on him. _The geth probably wouldn't mind_. He was convinced it would help, despite his thoughts on the earlier spacewalk.

As he stepped off of the elevator, one of the night shift navigators nearly ran into him. The bronze-complected man sneezed, and then said, "Oh... uh, sorry sir. I'll get right out of your way." The still sneezing navigator rushed into the open elevator.

Kaidan shook his head, and made his way towards the cockpit. As he was walking, he suddenly realized that he hadn't really introduced himself to the nighttime crew.

He decided to remedy that by introducing himself to the only other navigator on deck.

He coughed into his fist to get her attention, "I realize we've never actually met. Major Kaidan Alenko." He pointed at himself and smiled.

The woman's eyes went as large as saucers when she turned around in her seat. Then she promptly stood and saluted, "Navigator Candice Starr, sir."

Kaidan chuckled, "No need to be so formal, navigator. I like a relaxed environment."

She nodded, "Alright..." she paused, "Then what should I call you?"

"Alenko's fine."

She smirked, "Then you can call me Candy. Everyone else does."

Kaidan tried to fight the quirk of his lips, "You're name's _Candy Starr_?"

The woman rolled her eyes, "Yes I know. It's a total stripper's name. Don't know what the hell my mom was thinkin'."

Kaidan couldn't fight back the chuckle he was holding anymore, "Oh. I'm sorry. I shouldn't laugh."

She shook her head, "No. It is pretty funny... Well, not as funny as this one girl I met. Her name was Daisy Meadows. I kid you not. She even said that's her real name. She was born with it."

He was curious, "Where'd you meet her?"

Candice smirked again and crossed her arms, "I got a tat done by her. And I swear to you, her entire left arm was covered in vines and flowers."

Kaidan snorted in disbelief, "Seriously?"

She shrugged, "Next time you're in New York, look for Serenity Tattoos. She does good work."

He shook his head and changed the topic, "I ran into the other navigator. Is he sick?"

"Walter Nartosky? He said his allergies were acting up. Which is strange, since I think he's only allergic to cats."

Kaidan raised a brow, "Is there a cat on the ship?"

"No idea."

…...

Despite the late hour, Courtney and Idan were chatting in her room.

"Just be glad the Major is understanding. But you're stuck on ground duty for a bit."

Idan flared his mandibles, "Is that supposed to be punishment?"

"...No. Maybe justice."

"So I had a few drinks at Nikos'. It was the middle of shore-leave."

She sighed, "I know... How's your hand?"

He flexed his talons, "Good. The alcohol dulled the pain for awhile. Doesn't hurt now."

"Did you really have to punch him?"

He fixed her with a glare, "He was their _neighbor_. That barefaced bastard has no right to comment on our family's business." He grumbled, "Too bad our colony was destroyed. It would have been a better place for them to raise Kikelia. We didn't have bastards like that."

His eyes softened, "Sorry." He paused a moment in thought, and then smirked, "If I wasn't there, Nikos would've taken care of him."

She quirked a brow, "Why would he... defend my honor?"

Honestly, Courtney was surprised with just how open and accepting Idan's family seemed to be. Most turians still seemed to be cautious and apprehensive around humans. The alliances with the war have helped. But even when Courtney had just casually flirted with Idan all those months ago in London, his teammates seemed not to take too kindly to the whole situation. Her advances made them uncomfortable, but luckily Idan was different. She was immensely happy when he agreed to keep in contact after the relays were fixed, and he was shipped back to Palavan. She thought of herself as a pretty open person, and she knew many people, humans and aliens alike, were not. She wasn't with Idan out of some weird xenocuriousity, she liked him as a person – a lot.

He shrugged and brought her attention back to him, "Honor is important. That fool dishonored you, which dishonored me, which dishonored our family. He deserved more than a broken mandible."

She shook her head, "That's just... confusing. Are you sure you're sober?"

His mandibles flared in a wide turian grin, "I'm sure."

…...

In the morning, once Traynor and Ursul's analysis of the data collected from Eclipse was complete, Traynor headed to Kaidan's cabin.

Kaidan opened his door to a startled Traynor. Her hand was raised in an obvious mid-air attempt to press his door's interface.

"Something I can help you with, Sam?"

She blinked, "I've, uh, we've finished our analysis. It seems as though Cerberus hired the Eclipse to infiltrate the salarian STG's base of operations on Sur'Kesh. Their goal was to gather information on the yahg. Cerberus' intentions were not clear. But if I had to guess, I'd say that they'd want to use them. Either for experiments, or perhaps soldiers. I'm not sure."

"Okay," Kaidan shifted his weight on one leg, "Do we have access to a secure link to relay the information?"

"Umm... Theoretically, yes. But the comm buoys aren't what they once were. Cerberus might have access."

"Alright. I'll tell Halah to set a course for Sur'Kesh."

Traynor turned around to leave, "Oh. Sam? Have you heard anything about a cat?"

She turned partially around, one brow raised, "A cat, sir? Like, on the ship?"

_~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~._

_Author's note: So, two new OCs. Yay! OCs seem to be my addiction... The OC Candice is named for my friend who's getting married soon (I guess that's called a friend-insert?). Anyways, I've noticed that my chapters have gotten progressively shorter. I was probably too ambitious at first. I'll try my hardest not to shorten them anymore for all you lovely readers that enjoy long chapters! :) Thanks a bunch for the R&R! Oh, and enjoy your fireworks tonight – if you're celebrating!_


	6. Chapter 6: History's Reminiscing

_Author's Note: Hi guys! Okay, so I've just played the new ending DLC – and well, for the purposes of this fic, lets just pretend that the Reapers were destroyed and the Reaper creatures weren't (husks, cannibals, banshees, etc.) Thanks in advance for the R&R! Enjoy!_

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**Chapter 6: History's Reminiscing**

It was a few hours to Sur'Kesh, so Kaidan thought he'd finally use Dr. Chakwas' advice and talk to Nurse Bell.

He waved a greeting to the good doctor, and walked over to Nurse Bell's station.

The dark complected, slighter man looked up as Kaidan approached.

"Major Alenko. Good morning. What can I do for you?" He asked with a smile.

Dr. Chakwas coughed to get their attention and stood up, "I'm going to treat myself to a late breakfast. I'll be back in a bit."

As she left the medical-bay, Kaidan turned back to the nurse, "I had heard that you have a degree in psychology?"

The man beamed, "I do. I was a counselor once."

Kaidan nodded, "...Do you think we could talk for a bit?"

"Sure. What do you have in mind?"

"Well – Commander Shepard."

The nurse's half-smile fell. "You were together, weren't you? I hope you don't mind, but Karin has told me a bit about the _Normandy_, and her crew."

"That's not a problem... And yeah, I was with Shepard. She – I was going to ask her to marry me. When... if we made it out okay. I didn't know if either one of us were going to live." He sighed, and took Dr. Chakwas' chair.

"Tell me about her," Bell prompted when Kaidan didn't speak for a moment.

"She was... amazing. Beautiful, strong. Determined as hell. I loved her."

Nurse Bell shook his head, "You should remember her with a smile, and not a grimace. I didn't know her, personally, but I don't think she'd want her memory to cause you pain."

Kaidan didn't even know he was making a face. He tried to straighten it out, "I know. I thought I had gotten past the... painful part. I don't have the nightmares anymore, but things have just been... a reminder."

"What things?"

"I've seen another couple together. They're on the ship. And while on that merc ship yesterday, the spacewalk... was a reminder too."

Kaidan groaned, "She died once. I got over it. It took me nearly two years – and then she was back. It, it's harder this time. She's gone for good now." His voice softened, "There's no more hope."

"There's hope for you, Major," the nurse said confidently. "I've spoken to a friend of yours. Not Dr. Chakwas. Dr. Liara T'Soni. She said that if you ever needed my help, to remind you to talk to your mother. Or her." He paused, "I honestly didn't know what she was referring to until I spoke to Karin."

The nurse shifted in his seat, "I assume your mother has been helping you with your loss? Have you spoken to her since you've been aboard?"

Kaidan closed his eyes briefly, "No."

"That might be a good idea. You have people that care about you, who are there for you. Your mother, Karin, Liara – even me. I want to help you get past this. Reminders don't always have to bring you pain. Focus on the good things. The good times. What you treasure about her. And remember, there are people who want to see you at one-hundered percent, okay?"

"...Okay."

Bell smiled again, "You're a strong person. I'm certain of it. Don't be afraid to remember the Commander. She was good to you, remember that. And in time, I'm sure you'll be able to look past the pain and move on."

Kaidan looked at his hands, and then back at the nurse, "That makes sense. I... I think I can do that. Really look past the pain. I'll try harder."

The med-bay door swooshed open, "Dylan, do you want to join me for lun-." Cortez went wide-eyed, "Oh! Major. I'll just, uh, go. Sorry to interrupt."

Kaidan stood up, "It's alright. I have a few things to finish up anyways." He looked at the nurse, "Thank you, for the advice."

"Stop by anytime. Take care, Major."

…...

After the stunts the ship pulled off the other day, a few things had to be recalibrated and adjusted in engineering.

"Herus. Can you hand me the laser cutter? I want to replace this coupling before we move on further."

Idan did as asked, but continued to comment, "It looks fine to me."

Oren narrowed his eyes and pointed, "No. See these striations? They're indicative of minor stress points. It will falter if we leave it like this."

"They look like welding marks to me..."

Oren prepared the laser cutter, "I've seen this before."

Idan stepped back to avoid the slight light and heat of the cutter, "When?"

Oren fought back a memory from surfacing while he finished his cutting. Once he finished, he motioned for Idan to began to replace it, and he let it come.

"_The engineer rushes up to me, 'Sir. Couplings F8 through H2 are failing. The internal stabilizers are off.' I looked at him. Confused. 'I checked those yesterday myself. How are they failing?' 'I'm not sure. All I can see are welding marks on them.'"_

Oren cleared his throat, "These new models don't show visible wear and strain as one might think. Consequentially, it is more difficult to discern when they're faulty. Better safe than sorry, correct?"

"I guess. Where was that memory from?"

"A time when I worked primarily on maintaining the hanar's stealth fighters in a large space station surrounding Kahje. It was three months before the final assault on the Reapers." He put away the plasma cutter, "If I'm not mistaken, your career had similar origins?"

Idan snorted and scratched his fringe, "Just about. It really didn't take off until I was assigned for duty under Garrus Vakarian on his Reaper detail. I was on Manae about four months before the assult. Fortunately, I was safely evacuated before the moon was completely lost. Just before we started to send troops to Earth, I was transferred again. I was placed on ground support on Earth."

"Hmm." Oren thought about how to reply, "Palavan and Earth were both hit far worse than anything I was near. The hanar should have been more involved."

Idan shook his head dismissively, "Don't bother worrying about it. It was all politics."

…...

Curiosity had been eating away at Halah for a few days now. So she took a deep breath and addressed her geth copilot, "Umm. Tasi? I had a question..."

"Yes, Creator Halah'Daae?"

She turned her seat slightly, "...How many geth are left?"

"Forty-seven mobile platforms are fully functional. Geth continue to rebuild." Tasi replied in its normal monotone and metallic voice.

She tilted her head, "How did you survive?"

Tasi's lone optical light swiveled, "Many geth avoided destruction by utilizing magnetic interference. Some were not destroyed during integration into a Creator's suit. Other reasons are... speculative."

"Oh." She ran one of her hands across her knee in thought, "How did you, personally, survive?"

The geth's optical light swiveled again, "Performing simulations in a Creator's suit. The physical platform was damaged, but it was repaired."

"Who's suit?" She asked curiously.

"Creator Jai'Bevon nar Raaya."

She sat back, "I have not heard of him..." She decided to continue to ask questions, "What did you do after your platform was repaired?"

"Assisted Creators on Rannoch. After Mass Relay repairs, journeyed to Earth to assist the crew of Shepard-Commander. Primarily the artificial intelligence known as EDI."

She paused for a moment, "How did you get your name?"

Tasi's motions at the controls were halted for a moment, "Creator Jai'Bevon." It replied as if that explained it entirely. Halah decided to quit asking questions. She may have not known if it was possible to make a geth uncomfortable before, but it seems as though she just did.

…...

Once they arrived outside of Sur'Kesh, the _Anderson _received permission to land at the salarian STG's base of operations relatively easily. Halah and Tasi slowly piloted the ship down through the cloudy expanse of sky, and eased slowly by the breath taking landscape full of trees, mountains, and waterfalls.

Only Kaidan and Courtney exited the ship, wearing only their Alliance Blues and carrying hand pistols, into the humid air of the salarian homeworld. They were greeted by a tall orange and tan salarian, who greeted the pair of humans in the normal quick speech of salarians, "Major Kaidan Alenko. And Executive Officer Courtney Louis, I presume? Welcome. I am Doctor Hason Solus."

Kaidan cut-off the young salarian, "Wait. Solus? Are you related to a Doctor Mordin Solus?"

"Why yes. My uncle. I am aware of his involvement with the late Commander Shepard. But, let's put that aside for another time. I have been informed that you have obtained information of interest to us?"

Courtney stepped forward and opened her omni-tool, "A team infiltrated and destroyed the Eclipse mercenary ship the _Jeriza _this past solar day. Two of our crew were able to piece together the obtained data enough to determine that the human terrorist organization, Cerberus, had hired the mercenaries to infiltrate your base and steal information on the yahg. They may have even intended to steal specimens. The exact reasons for this are not clear. But, the Eclipse were able to obtain layout of your base and security protocols. We will forward you all copies. No specifics have been released to the Alliance or any other third party. We will give you all of the information we have obtained."

Hason pulled up his omni-tool as the exchange completed, and quickly scanned over the information, "Ah. Most troubling. I understand your aversion to using the comm buoys. Sensitive material. Thank you." He started to type into his omni-tool, "As a show of good faith, here is information regarding a potential threat to the Alliance's Admiral Hackett. We have relayed information to the colony Eden Prime, but our warnings seem to be ignored. Possible assassination attempt."

Kaidan's eyebrows shot up his forehead, "Assassination attempt?"

"Correct. Interrupted transmission two and a half solar days ago. Day of possible attempt unknown. Possible Cerberus involvement. Must exercise caution." He turned around, "Take care."

…...

As soon as Kaidan and Courtney returned to the ship, and emerged from the airlock, Kaidan ordered, "Head to Eden Prime stat."

He headed to his cabin intending to contact Admiral Hackett himself. He issued a vid-call right away.

"Major Alenko. What can I do for you?"

Kaidan got straight to the point, "Were you aware of an assassination attempt in the making?"

Hackett adverted his eyes briefly, "Yes. We received the intel from the STG. We have not been able to validate it. It is entirely possible that it was forged or inaccurate."

"Is that what you really think, sir?"

"I would like to hope so at least."

Kaidan breathed heavily through his nose, "We've set a course for Eden Prime. We'll check it out ourselves."

"Thank you Major." And he ended the vid-call.

…...

Later that night, Solana and Halah decided to teach Oren a turian strategy card game.

Solana trilled happily, "The goal is to dominate the other players by taking their cards. It's really quite simple, but don't play it when you're drunk – it can go on forever."

"I highly doubt forever," said Oren as he grabbed his cards.

Solana shrugged, "At least until everyone passes out." She looked over at the yellow-masked quarian, "You said you learned this from a couple of grunts?"

Halah nodded, "Yes. I picked it up easily enough."

Once the game was underway, Solana decided pry and perhaps make her opponents uneasy and use it to her advantage, "So... You two have been spending a lot of time together, huh?"

Halah replied happily in her heavy accent, "Yes. We've been looking at ways to integrate a VI into the ship. We almost have a solid plan."

Solana placed a card down, "Oh? You guys haven't been looking to _integrate_ anything else between you two, have you?"

The sexual innuendo went right over Halah's head, "No. Just a VI."

The corners of Oren's lips quirked, "I believe the Gunnery Chief was implying something of a... personal nature. With the," he cleared his throat, "_integration_."

Halah tilted her head quizzically, "What do you... Oh Keelah!" She quickly adverted her gaze from the near laughing drell to Solana, "That is not something we should discuss."

Solana raised a brow-ridge, "Really? I betcha Oren here would just _love_ that discussion."

"We are just friends!" The quarian shrieked, and in the midst of her out-burst Solana was successful in obtaining two of her cards. "Hey! You did that on purpose!"

"You caught me."

…...

Kaidan fell asleep early, despite the ramblings of his mind regarding Hackett. As he drifted off into oblivion, he began to dream...

_He treasures the feel of her fingers over his eyes. Dainty, soft things that give the illusion of weakness, but rather they are quite the opposite. He smiles, 'She doesn't look all that dangerous,' he thinks to himself. Well, at least not when they're in bed together. When they're lying there side-by-side, breathing harmonized – she is the furthest thing from dangerous to him._

"_Kaidan..." she whispers._

"_Yes?" he asks with a hint of humor in his voice._

"_You can see your present now." and she withdraws her soft little fingers._

_He opens his eyes. His world warps, and he sees her running. Everything shakes. He hears screams. He panics, but it is quickly replaced by worry for her. _

_He closes his eyes. He feels the wetness on his cheeks. _

_When he opens them, the world has changed again. Liara is holding him upright. He's barely on the 'Normandy'. _

_Those soft little fingers – clad in armor – are on his face again. _

"_I love you."_

Kaidan awoke drawing in a huge breath, and his palm quickly flew to his forehead. He tried to steady his thoughts.

_Fuck_, he thought that talk with Bell went well. He hadn't had a nightmare in a few weeks, why were they coming back now?

He grumbled under his breath, and rubbed his eyes. He knew he couldn't get any sleep now. So he decided to think.

Maybe the nightmares came back because he's trying to let go, trying to not let her death cause any more misery... He should remember Shepard like the woman she was, and not the cause of heartbreak and sorrow.

_'You should remember her with a smile, and not a grimace.' _

He sighed and got up. Maybe Bell was still awake. Or maybe he could find someone just to talk to. Those navigators were up. He could use the comfort of a friend.

_~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~._

_Author's note: So, I should point out that I'm not a psychology major. I did take psych-101, but if something is off (or doesn't make sense) let me know! Oh, and could you lovely readers let me know which characters you'd like to see make an appearance in this fic (interactive story time)? I've already got Wrex, Liara, Javik, possibly Jack, and more Tali & Garrus planned for this. And the update for next week may be delayed, because I have several short fics in various stages of completion that I want to finish! I keep putting them off... Thanks so much again! :D_


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